Service dogs are specially trained canines that assist people with disabilities in a variety of tasks. Here’s a glimpse into some of the many ways these incredible animals help their handlers.
Mobility assistance: Providing balance and support for walking (full bracing is no longer considered ethical by most in the community), retrieving dropped items, retrieving items by name, retrieving items as needed (such as going and getting medications when the handler is having a medical episode), opening and closing doors, turning lights off and on, and more.
Hearing assistance: Alerting deaf or hard of hearing individuals to sounds like doorbells, alarms, and sirens, identifying the source of sounds, and providing balance support for those with balance issues due to being hearing impaired, and others.
Vision assistance: Guiding individuals who are blind or visually impaired, helping them navigate obstacles and safely maneuver through their environment, finding exits, elevators, bathrooms, etc.
Medical assistance: Alerting people with diabetes to blood sugar fluctuations, alert to seizures or assist during seizures, alert to heartrate, retrieving medication or food, deep pressure therapy, getting help, and so many more.
Psychiatric assistance: Interrupting self harm behaviors, medication reminders, dissociation or flashback disruption, deep pressure therapy, guiding to safe place, and so on.
This is not an exhaustive list, and service dogs can be trained to perform many other tasks specific to their handler’s needs. Anything that helps mitigate the handlers disability and is ethical is a valid task.
